“Why should I reward someone who doesn’t like the president, so they can use funds to try to campaign against the president? Logic says they don’t get the contract. That’s the way I believe.”

I know, under bAdmin. it could be anyone, but it was in fact soon-to-be-former Housing Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson (via The Wall Street Journal):

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson is expected to announce his resignation Monday, according to people familiar with the matter, a decision that will deal a blow to the Bush administration’s efforts to tackle the housing crisis. [Or at least deal with it in the way bAdmin. wants to, which is a way that would further screw the average homeowner. So if you’re a homeowner, make with the rejoicing already – ed.]

Some time ago Steve Benen of The Carpetbagger Report noted that bAdmin. liked to announce resignations late on a Friday so by the time people were ready to pay attention to the news again it was buried. The fact that this is coming out first thing Monday morning gives me high hopes that there is a lot more bad news in store for Mr. Jackson.

Here, by the way is his “apology,” for the above comment:

“I deeply regret the anecdotal remarks I made at a recent Texas small-business forum and would like to reassure the public that all HUD contracts are awarded solely on a stringent merit-based process.”

I deeply regret the fact that my tax dollars go towards the salaries of crooks who don’t know what anecdotal means.